CT-Music: Roxbury Jazz Fest kicks off for 1st time

BY KELLIE LAMBERT
REPUBLICAN-AMERICAN

A Roxbury recording studio is bringing spectacular sounds of music to the Litchfield Hills this month.

The studio is hosting two special events, starting this weekend with the first Roxbury Jazz Fest on Saturday. The event features music by The Doug White Quintet, Marc Wager and the Roxtones, Kathy Thompson Band, Medusa with Jocelyn Pleasant and Corey Hutchins and Hot Club of Black Rock.

Gates open at 1 p.m.; the music starts at 3 p.m. The event is at Munson Meadow, 26 North St., Roxbury. The family-friendly event will also feature bounce houses.

Tickets are $25; $20 for a group rate when purchasing four or more tickets. Children under age 12 are free.

Last this month, the 2nd annual Roxbury Station Music Fest will be in Washington Depot, Conn.

The Aug. 25th event features a variety of musicians who have recorded at Roxbury Station studios, including bands performing music in a variety of styles, including Americana, rock, blues, Motown, soul, funk, jazz and gospel. The line-up includes The Roger Filgate Band featuring Michael Lombardi, The Kenny Hamber Band, The Doug White Quintet, Lisa Clayton and her Gospel Band, The Lost Tribe, The Blameless Project and Felicia Michael & Friends.

The Kathy Thompson Band

The music starts at 3 p.m. The festival is at The Judy Black Memorial Park and Gardens, 1 Green Hill, Washington Depot, Conn. Food trucks will be on site with refreshments.

Tickets are $35; children under age 12 are free. Group rate is $25 per ticket for four or more tickets. Parking is free. Coolers, chairs and blankets are welcome. For tickets, visit www.eventbrite.com.

For more information on both events or the studio, visit www.roxburystationrecordingstudio.com.

The Hot Club of Black Rock

SOUNDTRACKS AT THE SYMPHONY: The Hartford Symphony Orchestra will offer two shows featuring movie music in the coming months.

“Star Wars: A New Hope in Concert,” on Oct. 27, will feature screenings of the complete film with Oscar-winning composer John Williams’ musical score performed live to the film. The concerts will be at 2 and 7:30 p.m. Oct. 27 and will be led by HSO Music Director Carolyn Kuan as part of the HSO POPS! series.

Legendary composer Williams is well known for scoring all eight of the Star Wars saga films to date, beginning with 1977’s “Star Wars: A New Hope” for which he earned an Academy Award for Best Original Score. His scores for “The Empire Strikes Back,” “Return of the Jedi,” “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” and most recently “Star Wars: The Last Jedi” were each nominated for Best Original Score.

The Doug White Quintet

Williams has won five Academy Awards, and with 51 Academy Award nominations, he is the Academy’s most nominated living person and the second most-nominated individual in history, after Walt Disney. In 2005, the American Film Institute selected Williams’ score to 1977’s “Star Wars: A New Hope” as the greatest American film score of all time. The soundtrack to A New Hope also was preserved by the Library of Congress in the National Recording Registry, for being “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant.”

Tickets are on sale now at hartfordsymphony.org, by calling 860-987-5900, or visiting The Bushnell Box Office.

Symphony audiences will also experience the next chapter of the Harry Potter Film Concert Series with the Hartford Symphony Orchestra performing John Williams’ music from “Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban in Concert,” with the entire film live at 1 and 7 p.m. April 6, 2019 at The Bushnell. The event is also part of the symphony’s POPS! series.

Medusa, featuring Corey Hutchins and Jocelyn Pleasant

Since the world premiere of “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone in Concert” in 2016, more than half a million fans have enjoyed this magical experience from J.K. Rowling’s wizarding world, which is scheduled to include over six-hundred performances across more than 38 countries worldwide through 2018.

“Star Wars” composer also created music for the film and earned an Oscar nomination for the score.

Tickets go on sale at 10 a.m. Monday at hartfordsymphony.org, in person at The Bushnell Box Office and by calling 860-987-5900. For more information on either event, visit hartfordsymphony.org.

THIS WEEK IN ROCK HISTORY: On this day in 1995, musician Jerry Garcia dies of a heart attack at a drug treatment center in San Francisco. Garcia was known as the singer and guitarist for Grateful Dead and its impact on the counterculture scene of the 1960s.

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